BJP names Anandiben loyalist Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel as Gujarat CM

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 12

First-time MLA and prominent Patidar leader Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel is all set to become the 17th Chief Minister of Gujarat with the BJP legislature party on Sunday unanimously electing him its leader after outgoing CM Vijay Rupani proposed his name.

A surprise pick, Patel, 59, represents the Ghatlodia Assembly segment in Home Minister Amit Shah’s parliamentary constituency Gandhinagar. He is a close confidant of former state Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.

Bhupendra Patel met Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat this evening and staked claim to form the next government. Once he takes oath tomorrow, Gujarat will see its third CM in a span of five years (Anandiben resigned in August 2016, Vijay Rupani quit yesterday).

A new Cabinet will also be formed. “Tomorrow only the CM will take oath. The ministers will be finalised by the BJP leadership soon,” said state BJP chief CR Paatil, crediting Patel’s “grassroots appeal” and hold in the cooperative sector for his selection over prominent names that were doing the rounds.

The election of Patel signals the clout of Anandiben. She had her way today after being sidelined in the selection of her replacement in August 2016. Shah had prevailed at the time to get Rupani named as her successor causing much consternation.

Both Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda congratulated Patel, who is so close to Anandiben that she got him nominated as party candidate from her assembly Ghatlodia in 2017. He won with the highest margin of nearly 1.17 lakh votes.

Patel said he would “take Gujarat’s development agenda forward and complete unfinished tasks”. He also thanked the Prime Minister and skirted queries on proximity to Anandiben.

Sources said Patel’s clout among Patidars was a major factor to win back the community support. With his appointment, the BJP thinks it has done enough to placate the politically and socially dominant Patidars, who were disenchanted with the party in 2017. The Patidars hold sway in around 80 of the Gujarat Assembly’s 182 segments.

Factors behind change of guard

• BJP’s 2017 score of 99 seats was the lowest since it came to power in Gujarat in 1995
• Its victory margin in 10 seats was as low as 1,000 and in 26, 3,000 votes
• Cong’s share went up from 61 seats in 2012 to 80 in 2017
• BJP’s vote share in Gujarat fell from 60% in 2014 LS poll to 49% in 2017 state polls